White Halloween
by nicolaruth27
Summary: A ferocious Nor'easter hits Boston in late October, bringing snow for the holiday. With the morgue quickly filling up, the last thing Rizzoli and Isles need is a murderer with a sick Halloween obsession. Will they find the mysterious culprit? Will Maura ever get the chance to show Jane how she feels? Rizzles. Rated T for swearing and gory details. Cover art mine.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Some suspension of belief required but, come on, it's Halloween after all!**

**Thank you to Orison for beta reading and encouragement once again! Your help is invaluable.**

**I haven't abandoned or forgotten about Cloudy, this just took precedence because I wanted to get it out at the appropriate time.**

**Happy Halloween!**

* * *

><p><strong>CHAPTER ONE<strong>

Doctor Maura Isles watched the coroner's van pull away, it's wheels spinning momentarily on the snow-covered asphalt before it found purchase and continued on without issue. Not one minute later she was taking a call from the CSRU team to say they were en route to the scene but would be delayed; the unforeseen and unprecedented snowfall so early in the year had prompted road closures and made some routes impassable. However, they assured the Chief Medical Examiner that they were on their way and would process the scene as soon as they could.

Verbally detailing the scene, Maura conveyed exactly the areas that they needed to focus on as far as possible evidence was concerned, and then made them aware that she probably wouldn't be there when they arrived.

Happy to leave the scene in the capable hands of the patrol officers that were present, Maura made her way down the street to her car. Conditions were starting to become treacherous, even on foot, and Maura walked slowly in her specially-designed alpine walking boots, ensuring she wouldn't slip and fall before reaching her vehicle.

Placing her medical bag into the trunk, the doctor brushed fallen snow from the shoulders and hood of her parka before climbing in behind the wheel. With no idea how long it might take the coroner's van to make it to the morgue given the detours and low driving visibility, she decided to head straight home. Shivering, the cold having permeated every layer, down to her toes, all she could think about was a long, hot soak. Dusk was already fast approaching and so the autopsy could wait until tomorrow morning. Sending off a quick text to Susie, she let the criminalist know to expect the body and have her team take test samples and make all the necessary preparations for storing the deceased overnight.

Once her cellphone was securely stored, she started the hybrid engine and tried to move off. The car struggled, swerving sideways slightly, instead of forwards, as she stepped on the gas; she needed to clear the snow from around the tires or she wasn't going anywhere soon.

Exiting the car, she suddenly realized that her usual winter driving kit wasn't packed in the trunk. She had water and a blanket, maintenance tools and a small air pump, but no shovel. No one could have predicted snow in October; it was unheard of. Kicking herself for being unprepared, she decided that some scuffs and minor damage to her expensive boots would be a small price to pay for getting home in one piece.

Dragging the length of her foot along the ground, she scraped mounds of snow from in front of each tire until the surface was as clear as she could make it. It didn't need to be perfect, just enough to get her moving; momentum would do the rest, enabling her to drive onto the already compacted surface where constant traffic had left tracks down the street.

She jumped back in and started the car up again, quickly moving away from the curb without a problem, eager to forget the last fourteen frigid hours and call it a day.

As the long, winding street came to an end and the blonde approached the junction, it was clear that her prized Prius was as suited to winter as a polar bear was suited to summers in Florida. She pumped the brakes repeatedly but the car continued on, sliding across the solid, icy surface like a Bruin on game day. She could do nothing to alter her velocity, her only saving grace being the low speed with which she'd tried to change direction at the junction, and so she held onto the steering wheel firmly as the car jerked and shuddered, mounting the grassy embankment and then coming to a stop in a ditch.

Groaning, the blonde let her forehead drop onto her hands; this was a far cry from that long, hot soak she really, really needed. After a moment or two of letting her thudding heartbeat return to normal, she took out her phone and speed-dialed the one person who would always come to her rescue.

"Hi, Jane!"

oOo

With the engine running and the heaters flowing, the medical examiner reveled in the warmth that circulated throughout the car's interior. She let her muscles relax, sinking low into her seat, and closed her eyes, just for a moment. The next thing she knew she was being jarred awake suddenly by Detective Jane Rizzoli knocking loudly on her window.

"Wakey, wakey, princess!" Her voice was muffled through the glass but still sounded amused.

Though startled, Maura smiled warmly back at her friend as she flashed a bright, white grin through the window, lighting up the darkness and warming the doctor's chilly insides.

Jane had packed a shovel, a tow rope, and a flask of hot coffee, for which Maura was immensely grateful. She'd also commandeered a highline four-by-four patrol vehicle, about which Maura had told her she didn't want to know any details. Plausible deniability was still an actual thing where Jane's unofficial police shenanigans were concerned.

Maura's car wasn't going anywhere and it wasn't for lack of trying. She was pretty sure she'd have to get it checked over at the dealership anyway after her little spin, but if there wasn't any damage to the chassis after Jane's over-zealous attempts to free it from its icy grave she'd be very surprised.

Opting for leaving it by the side of the road, Maura was happy for Jane to drive her home instead. The coffee had most definitely helped to fend off the worst of the cold but she still felt it in her toes and the hot bath still called to her. She could only hope at this point that what remained of her evening wouldn't be constantly interrupted by the sound of the doorbell announcing the usual stream of trick-or-treaters. If anything, as much as she hated this weather and it's unfortunate effect of limiting her daily fashion choices – slacks, boots and a heavy winter coat were a must – she at least could find consolation in the thought that it would also limit the number of people taking their children out to call door-to-door throughout the neighborhood.

Interrupting the blonde's silent contemplation, Jane asked, "What's on your mind?"

"Oh, nothing. Just thinking about the snow and how it might spoil Halloween."

"I didn't think you were into that sort of thing; ghouls and ghosts and whatnot."

"I'm not, but it's fun for the children… to go trick-or-treating."

"They like coming to your house because you spoil them."

"And you like eating whatever's leftover."

"Yep!"

The blonde sighed. "I don't think they really know what it means, though."

"They're kids, Maura. Some of them are barely old enough to walk when their parents dress them up and take them out." Jane waved a hand in the air between them. "You can't expect them to spend the day worshiping dead saints and martyrs or celebrating the pagan symbolism of it all."

The doctor's eyebrow lifted; the breadth of Jane's knowledge was quite surprising to her at times though she always hid it. Staring out of the passenger window, Maura watched blurred white flurries rush past and began to quietly recite, "_'Tis now the very witching time of night, when churchyards yawn and hell itself breathes out, contagion to this world_.'"

Jane pulled a dour face, "Bit gloomy. Lemme guess… Dickens?"

Smiling, the doctor looked over, shaking her head softly, "Shakespeare."

"Ah," Jane nodded, as if she should have known better. Then, dropping her voice to its lowest, huskiest register she offered in response, "_'Four missing heirs. A haunted house. A phantom shadow. Where's the spooky music?_'"

"Mmm," Maura murmured, considering her guess, "Poe?"

"Nope."

She frowned. "Burns?"

"Noooo," Jane drawled.

"Who is it, then?"

Smirking, the brunette teased, "You'll never get it."

Jabbing a finger into the detective's ribs for emphasis, Maura demanded, "Who. Is. It?"

Jane chuckled, "Scooby Doo."

"Oh, pfft!" Maura slapped Jane's thigh, making the brunette laugh again. Jane was officially ridiculous, but Maura wouldn't have her any other way. It was wonderful how much they laughed together.

"Besides the never-ending supply of candy…" Jane caught a glance of Maura's expectant face out the corner of her eye. "… which is **_really_** unhealthy and should **_never_** pass my lips, I would be happy if they cancelled Halloween altogether." The detective shook her head, dark brown waves swishing slightly across her shoulders. "It just makes people crazy."

Maura frowned, "In what way?"

That seemed to set something off in the brunette and she gestured animatedly as her voice rose, "Do you know how many calls we get for zombie sightings alone? It's ridiculous." She counted off on long, tan fingers, "Then you've got your vampires, bats… vampire bats, goblins, Bigfoot, Frankenstein… ugh." She mumbled something about gullible wackos and rolled her eyes exaggeratedly.

"It's Frankenstein's monster; Frankenstein was the scientist," the doctor corrected.

"I knew that," the detective replied sarcastically, squinting and sneering in a way that she knew would humor her friend and not offend.

The blonde still sounded surprisingly upbeat about the holiday, "People get carried away, that's all."

Jane scoffed, "People watch too much television! I blame The Walking Dead. I bet you didn't know crank calls on Halloween went up over four hundred percent the year that show started!"

Maura chuckled, "It's a very entertaining show. Their special effects are particularly impressive."

The brunette looked over with a smile but the flick up and down of her eyebrows was meant solely to tease, "You would know."

The blonde playfully slapped Jane's right thigh again, "Oh, stop."

"It's true!" Jane shrieked with a giggle. "They could make a film about you." She turned her head briefly to flash another beautiful, warm smile. "I'd watch it," she added sweetly. With a sharp intake of breath, she continued, dropping her voice for effect, "Oh! And like… the camera could pan in, right, and there'd be some intense, atmospheric mood music. Then you'd pose for a dramatic close-up and whisper, 'I see dead people.'"

As Maura laughed heartily, they turned onto a dark street full of empty houses; derelict-looking buildings that would have once been gorgeous, traditional homes. They were still very imposing, even with their peeling paint and boarded windows. Maura could almost picture the elaborately-spun wooden spindles of the original front stair rails, or the bright mix of colors that would have once adorned the slatted siding and window casings in a colonial style.

Curious, she made a mental note to research the real estate market in this area for any intended developments. Traditional renovators, 'restorers' as they preferred to be called, were popping up all across Boston but they apparently hadn't discovered this particular suburb yet.

The ride was momentarily subdued, quiet, but comfortably so. It was shattered by Maura suddenly shouting "Stop the car!" and Jane slamming on the brakes.


	2. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER TWO**

"Look at that."

One of the houses had a Halloween display out front. Two full size skeletons hung limply from the raised porch roof, one at each corner, highlighted by security lights mounted above them.

"They look so convincing," Maura breathed with wonder. Turning back to Jane, she continued with a finger held aloft, "I once watched a behind-the-scenes documentary about The Walking Dead and you wouldn't believe how easy it was for them to create realistic-looking torn limbs and disemboweled organs…"

"Mmm," Jane murmured as her attention remained focused on the house. Peering past the blonde through the passenger window, her eyebrows suddenly drew together as something occurred to her.

Seeing the confusion on her friend's face, Maura inquired, "What is it?"

"Doesn't it strike you as odd… that a house that has probably been empty for… what, thirty years, would still have the power turned on?"

The doctor's shoulders shifted and she looked back out at the house, too, "Well, yes, I suppose so."

Releasing her seat belt, Jane made to get out of the car, "I'm gonna check it out."

"It might just be squatters, Jane. Leave it -" As the detective rounded the hood of the car and started up the path to the house, Maura called again, her hands up in exasperation at being ignored, "Jane!"

The detective didn't acknowledge the blonde's dismay, just continued to stride away as she wrapped her parka more tightly around her midriff and stomped through pure, undisturbed snow that came up to her knees.

It didn't take long for the medical examiner to follow and she crunched up the porch stairs behind the brunette, kitted out, it seemed, in every piece of winter wear she owned.

Jane was fingering some very dodgy-looking wiring. "Look at this - it's cobbled together from scraps. Someone jacked the external junction box just to run these two lights."

Maura peered upwards, and immediately regretted it as her vision swam with bright spots. She screwed her eyes closed and pinched the bridge of her nose as Jane chuckled. "I take it there's no one in the house then?"

Jane shook her head, "No, it looks secure." Pointing to the nearest window, she nodded once at the single layer of chipboard nailed over the glass. "I'd say no one's touched these boards since they were put up. No sign of a break in."

As battered as this house was, Maura had to agree. Just with a cursory glance she could see the large, visible nail heads looked as old and as rusted as everything else, the chipboard sheets weren't broken or chipped, and there were no tool marks on the surrounding frames or sill. Nothing suggested anyone had gained entry to this property, at least not in the last few years.

"So why go to the trouble of lighting up the porch?"

"That's what I was trying to figure out." Jane stomped back down the stairs to the front yard path and turned to look over the frontage, leaning back and peering all the way up to the top story. Shrugging, she offered, "I dunno, Maura… someone with a Halloween obsession doing a bit of street art? Didn't have enough room on their own porch so they decided to use this one?"

It was a silly suggestion and Jane shrugged again, conceding that exact point before Maura could even say anything.

Stepping to the side of the small staircase to get a better look at one of the skeletons, Maura stated, "Well, they've been here a day or two at least. There were no other footprints leading up to the house before we trudged over here."

Jane let out a great puff of air. "The effort most people go to for Halloween is mind-blowing. There are some _**very**_ serious people who enter competitions. For a second there I thought maybe you were right about squatters; they are awards up for grabs." Her eyebrows shot up in disbelief, "Some of them with a cash prize!" She chuckled to herself and waved wriggling fingers in the air as she sung a spooky sound, "Ooh, congratulations. You have the most realistic-looking skeletons!"

Maura frowned, her brow creased deeply between the eyebrows as her curious eyes swept up and down bones. She didn't look back at Jane, just carried on examining as she spoke softly, "They do look… _**very**_… real."

Jane jumped up and down on the spot, rubbing her gloved hands up and down her biceps for warmth, her eyes chasing the journey of her frozen exhalations through the cold night air, "I swear this stuff gets gorier every year. Not exactly scary, though, is it?" She paused and then chuckled under her breath, "Might make your average person barf, I suppose… or anyone called Barry."

The doctor leaned back up at that moment, turning to face the detective with a look that Jane usually associated with bad news. "Well, I'm… pretty sure this isn't a decoration."

The detective stuck out her chin, suddenly in no mood for messing about as the blonde shifted to the other side of the stairs, checking out the other skeleton, "Har har, Maura. Come on, it's freezing and this isn't funny."

The blonde twisted her body and threw out an arm, gesturing toward the dangling remains, her voice an octave higher than usual, "_**This**_ isn't funny, Jane… these are _**real**_ skeletons!"

Stunned into silence, the brunette looked from the skeleton to Maura and back again. Her mouth was still hanging open as the blonde took the last couple of steps and moved away across the porch deck towards the house. She took a couple of steps forward, reaching the bottom of the staircase, and leaned towards the bones, trying to see exactly what had tipped Maura off.

From a distance you really would see them only as Halloween decorations, or possibly a prop, the likes of which could be found in a clinic or medical teaching facility. But on closer inspection, what should have been clean, shiny plastic was in fact rough, porous bone with ragged bits of muscle and tendon still clinging on amidst scrapes and tool marks. Jane swallowed sharply, covering a sudden gag at the thought of someone stripping a body clean of its flesh with only a sharp knife, like they were frenching a turkey leg for Thanksgiving.

When she looked away, it was to find Maura squatted down on the wooden porch deck by the front door.

The doctor had removed her thermal ski gloves and replaced them with latex. She lifted the lid from a carved pumpkin that Jane had dismissed as irrelevant when she'd first approached the house; it was a nasty-looking specimen that had its red-dyed innards spewing from a gaping hole in the front, intended to look like a gunshot wound or a chest-burster, Jane wasn't sure.

"I could be wrong…but -" Maura paused for a beat and Jane rolled her eyes.

What were the chances of that, really? The detective could have laughed were it not for the fact that their evening had already taken a horribly disturbing turn. There were several, very large pumpkins carved in the same style positioned at various points up against the house. Each one with its seeds exposed; each one with the same gory carving. She was hoping it was red dye, or even ketchup, but the clenching sensation in her gut meant she knew exactly what Maura was going to say next. She climbed the stairs as the blonde continued.

"… I suspect there are additional remains inside these pumpkins."

That's when Jane noticed the maggots, hundreds of them, concentrated around each pumpkin but crawling out across the porch in every direction. Wriggling, squirming, creeping, slithering… She shuddered involuntarily, "Ugh." Holding a hand over her nose and mouth as her best friend stood and turned to face her, she exclaimed, "You've got to be kidding me!"


	3. Chapter 3

**CHAPTER THREE**

The doctor and the detective sat in the car with the engine running, warming frozen fingers in front of the heater jets.

"There's no telling how long we could be sat here waiting for backup."

Sighing, Maura hated herself for stating the obvious, "Every department is stretched."

The truth was she'd never seen her morgue so full. Signing off on causes of death for all those that had fallen victim to the unexpectedly vicious nor'easter would keep her busy for at least the next week. Exposure and hypothermia, car accidents, fallen trees, they all had a hand to play in filling the refrigerated drawers. And now murder, a double homicide… possibly. It was entirely plausible that the skeletons died of natural causes and the pumpkin entrails belonged to another kind of mammal. But the longer they sat there, the further plausibility and reason fled, her will to listen solely to science in short supply, chased away by darkness and shivering limbs.

"We should leave," Jane said unexpectedly. "Unless you want to sit in here all night, which I think would be a very bad idea."

Maura murmured, staring absently out of the windscreen, "Unnecessary risk."

"Something like that," Jane nodded. "We'll get snowed in if we don't get moving." There was no sense in them freezing to death, and even if they didn't, Jane didn't relish the thought of digging them out of there in the morning.

Maura shivered, "I really would like to go home."

Smiling, Jane shifted her hips and moved back into a driving position, "The way I see it, our scene isn't going anywhere. It doesn't even look like a scene. Chances are anyone passing by will just think it's a normal Halloween display and keep going."

The blonde turned to look at her friend with a raised eyebrow, "**_We_** didn't keep going."

"No, we didn't, but only because _**you**_ were having your Walking Dead moment._**I**_ would have kept going." The brunette paused before waving a hand by the window, "And even if they do stop to get a better look, they're not gonna get out of the car in this weather."

"_**You**_ got out of the car in this weather." Maura grinned teasingly, flashing Jane a dimple and leaving her slightly flustered.

"Yes, b-but…" she stammered. "That's because _**I'm**_ a detective, I… _**detect**_ stuff."

The doctor clipped her seat belt on with a chuckle as the car started to pull away; it was fun to play tease the detective sometimes.

oOo

It was slow going with the snow still falling steadily and Maura was thankful that Jane at least took road safety seriously. In a weird way she didn't want this journey to end, it was nice to have some quiet time, just the two of them, and she hoped Jane would be amenable to staying over once they reached Beacon Hill.

They'd made it barely three blocks when the car crawled to a halt. Maura had been a little preoccupied observing Jane's attractive profile to notice the reason for them stopping.

"What – what's the matter?"

Jane just jutted her chin in the direction of the passenger window, her eyes wide with horror.

Turning to see what had Jane so freaked out, Maura gasped, covering her mouth with her hand, "Oh, god."

There was another house, just like the first, with lights illuminating a gory scene by the porch.

Maura's face matched exactly what Jane was thinking when she turned back, mouth agape, _what the hell?_

The brunette planted her elbow on the steering wheel and cleared her throat as she leaned over the center console, "Now, Doctor Isles, I _**know**_ you don't like to guess, but… if I were a betting woman, which I am, I'd say the odds are good that _**that's**_ not a coincidence, wouldn't you?"

There was no denying it. "Certainly, at first glance, it would appear to be… similar," she gulped.

Both women exited the car at the same time, zipping up their parkas and crunching footsteps across the street to the sidewalk. Jane pulled the hood of her coat over her head, dark curls tumbling down her chest from behind her ears, as Maura donned the cute little black beanie that framed her own golden blonde waves against the furry outer rim of her coat hood.

Once again the snow of the front path was undisturbed, covering any previous footprints and making it impossible to guess how long the macabre display had been there.

Where the previous house had had suspended skeletons, this house had dangling vampires. Freakish, turn-of-the-century mannequins that would have been quite at home in a house of horrors without any embellishment whatsoever were dressed in black and red silk capes. What appeared to be a badly made-up latex mask covered the head of each dummy and a disturbing reddish-brown liquid oozed down the bodies from their fanged mouths.

Having stuffed a clean pair of gloves in her pocket after the last scene, Maura snapped them on once again and got to work poking and prodding.

This time Jane stayed close by, peering over the blonde's shoulder as the smaller woman grimaced and hissed at the first specimen. Both women looked down occasionally to double check their foot placement as some of the snow had been splattered with what Jane was almost certain had to be real blood.

Jane screwed her face up in disgust as Maura narrated her observations, "I'm fairly certain these fangs are actually human canine teeth." She turned to look at the sickened detective as she mused, "I didn't notice any teeth missing from the previous remains but then I didn't get close enough to the skulls. It's possible they were extracted but I'd have to go back and check -"

Shaking her head firmly, Jane blurted, "We're not going back."

Maura turned back with a smirk, she didn't really want to go back either. Sniffing against the cold, she moved to examine the second vampire for a moment before dropping the next bombshell, "And these aren't masks, they're… well, this is… it's a face."

Jane's chin dropped in shock, "Huh?"

"A face. It's crudely done, but it's been cut from the skull in one piece. Look there's hair and eyebrows and even lips -"

Waving both hands in the air, Jane had heard enough, "Okay, okay, I get it. Don't – just stop before I puke."

Maura couldn't help a little chuckle as her friend turned a pale shade of green, "Do you need to sit down?" A blazing glare from the detective made her snap her mouth closed. "No. Okay. I just thought – it's a little more grizzly than most of the cases we've seen so far and it'd be perfectly normal to -"

Stormy dark brown eyes belied the offence taken at the suggestion that she was anything but invincible. "I'm fine," the taller woman snapped.

Maura had gathered a droplet of the reddish liquid on the tip of her index finger and was rubbing it between her finger and thumb.

"Blood?"

"Possibly," she replied, causing Jane to roll her eyes. Looking over to the other vampire, she added, "Looks like both a male and a female, elderly, could be consistent with the skeletons we found."

Climbing the porch stairs carefully, the detective moved to investigate a steaming black cauldron that sat by the door. Noticing a wire protruding from the back, her eyes followed it up the wall to the porch ceiling. There, several wires were taped together, with two apparently running the security lights that ensured the vampires didn't go unnoticed.

"Hey, Maura. The electrics are patched together exactly like the last house."

The doctor climbed the stairs, banging the toes of each foot on the top riser to knock off the snow, and joined her friend on the clear wooden porch deck.

"Must be why the pot is steaming," she mused. "Any amount of heat would have that effect in these temperatures. Is there something in it?"

Jane wafted a thickly-gloved hand over the pot, dispersing the steam as both women leaned over to see what was inside.

Eyeballs. Fucking floating eyeballs!

Clenching a fist in front of her mouth, Jane squeaked, "Holy shit, are they – ?"

"Real?" finished the blonde. Leaning further over the pot, "It would appear so."

Thumping her fists into her own thighs, the brunette sprung to her full height and shrieked, "This is crazy!" Shucking a thumb over her shoulder back towards the street, she added, "Did we take a wrong turn into a horror film back there? What the hell is going on?!"

Maura moved to put a hand on her friend's shoulder just as the taller woman moved away and stomped back down the stairs.

The freezing night air stung Jane's face as she walked back to the car, her usual swagger lost to the bitter landscape and her numb limbs. Once in the car, she radioed the address to dispatch, adding details to the information she'd already relayed after the last scene.

Just as she was finishing up, Maura pulled open the passenger door and climbed in, her face a picture of concern. "You okay?"

"Yeah, yeah," Jane dismissed with a wave. "They're gonna send another unit as soon as they can but it's still gonna be a while. We're low priority apparently."

Seeing how there was nothing they could do, Maura replied flatly, "Okay."

The two women sat quietly for long moments not looking at each other, the silence blanketing them as they took comfort in the heat and safety of their vehicle.

Sheepishly, Jane whispered, "I'm not sure what to say."

Turning to her friend, Maura reached over and grabbed her hand, "Even with everything we've been through this is a bizarre situation. I'm at a loss, too, quite frankly."

Squeezing the blonde's hand in return, the detective smiled; whatever happened, they were always in it together and for that she was eternally grateful. Her face dropped after a couple of seconds and she grumbled, "I fucking _**hate**_ Halloween."

Maura's eyes softened and she tilted her head, "Jane -"

Putting the car in drive, Jane sighed heavily, "Let's just get out of here, Maura, before Freddy Kruger turns up!"

oOo

They managed to get only another three blocks down the street before they found yet more death.

Or, to be more precise, Death.


	4. Chapter 4

**CHAPTER FOUR**

The car skidded to a stop as the two women stared open-mouthed out of the window.

Another house looked the same as the first two, long abandoned but with a lit porch, the only spot of brightness in the dark night. A shrouded body, hooded and wrapped in swathes of tattered black cloth, holding a scythe, stood like a sentry, a gruesome warning. _Do Not Enter._

"This cannot be happening!"

"Oh no!"

Jane scoffed, amazed that in her substantial career in law enforcement, and in Homicide in particular, she still genuinely hadn't seen everything. "This is not our average sicko, Maura."

"Indeed," the doctor breathed, equally as stunned.

"What do the studies say about psychopaths with a Halloween obsession?"

"I don't – I…" There were no studies that explained the psychology of this case. Perhaps she herself could make sure there was at least one study available to the scientific community once the case was closed. It was something to consider once she'd worked her way through the avalanche of other cases that would be waiting for her back at headquarters.

"Part of me thinks we don't even need to get out of the car. I could just radio dispatch right now and request another unit."

Maura looked shocked that Jane would even consider it, "That's a huge assumption -"

Huffing, Jane interrupted, "I said **part**… of course the other part of me shares your morbid curiosity." Unbuckling her seatbelt once more, she moved to get out, "Come on, but we're out of here in exactly two minutes, Doctor."

Their movements were hurried, almost jogging across the street, keen to investigate only as much as necessary before racing back to their vehicle.

Maura snapped on new gloves and confidently approached the Grim Reaper. Sweeping layers of hooded cloth aside, she revealed the frozen face of a middle-aged man. One glance and a nod in the detective's direction confirmed that they had yet another scene and possible homicide to contend with, rather than a run-of-the-mill Halloween exhibit.

Death also had a dog it seemed. A wiry-haired little scamp, vaguely reminiscent of Jo Friday, dressed in a miniature costume of devil horns and wings, stood on the opposite side of the path. Maura suspected it was a real animal that had been stuffed and proceeded to point out with her index finger the areas of skin that had been sewn together as she and Jane peered at it, bent over at the waist.

More disturbing was the luminous green and orange lawn sign that sat in the yard. With a large arrow pointing up to the front door, it invited, '_Help Yourself to Halloweenies!'_

"That can't be good," Jane whispered, a sense of dread and foreboding slithering up her spine. She followed Maura towards the house as the blonde walked away, her measured steps crunching through pristine drifts once again.

Up until now, even in the presence of rotting organs and writhing maggots, there hadn't really been a smell to speak of; the frosty atmosphere keeping putrefaction at bay. But this scene was totally different and, if possible, even more grotesque than the last.

At the top of the stairs, wired into the junction box, the medical examiner found a small, portable hot dog stand. She came to an abrupt halt causing the brunette to collide with her back. Reaching a hand backwards, the blonde gripped the material of Jane's coat and hung on.

Jane had already clamped a hand over her mouth and screwed her face up in revulsion as Maura took a steadying pause and made an effort to breathe through her mouth. The rotisserie-style contraption was powered up, it's metal skewers moving and rotating inside the glass cabinet, all fully loaded, as a red lamp light glowed from behind.

The smell was all wrong and Maura looked horrified. Suddenly, Jane's hotdog-loving mind connected the dots between this scene and the other two and she tried to step away as she muttered, "No, no, no, no, no."

It didn't take a genius to work out that of the three dead adults they had already found, they hadn't, in fact, recovered all of the parts.

Covering a cough with her fist, Maura cringed, "I don't think those are beef franks, Jane."

The detective couldn't cover her gag reflex this time as her suspicion was given voice. "Ugh, that's fucking nasty."

oOo

Stowing the police radio in its holder once more, Jane blew out a long breath with puffed out cheeks. "Dispatch must think I've lost my mind."

"Once CSRU get out here in the morning, the daylight will help us make more sense of it." Removing her beanie hat and unzipping her coat, Maura sniffed and then grimaced, "I smell like rotten sausages."

She just caught the brunette's quiet reply, "You smell great."

Deciding now was not the time to deal with how the detective's easy compliment made her feel, the blonde simply smiled to herself.

Not looking at her friend, Jane continued, "Still, it's gotta seem absolutely crazy. I don't know if_**I'd**_ believe it if I hadn't seen the entire thing with my own eyes."

Maura breathed, "It's very puzzling."

Trying to encourage the other woman out of her facts-only comfort zone, Jane prompted, "You agree they're connected though, right?"

Tilting her head to the side, Maura replied, "It certainly would seem that way." It didn't surprise the other woman when she added, "There will be a lot of tests to run once we get it all back to the lab in order to confirm anything."

Letting out a huge sigh, Jane rushed, "God, I hope we didn't ruin any evidence by poking around out there."

"I doubt it," the blonde reassured, shaking her head. "We didn't interfere with anything. We both had gloves on and our footprints can be ruled out, though there might not even be any there by the morning. Not to mention the low temperature will help to preserve things."

One of Jane's knees bobbed up and down, belying her eagerness; the oddity of this freaky situation had really captured her excitement, "I want to be back out here when CSRU turn up. I wanna see it in the daylight, y'know?"

The doctor's own curiosity was also locked on to finding some answers, "I would be interested to see if there was anything at the scenes that we didn't spot in the dark."

"I'll call Korsak first thing, get him and Frost started on digging up whatever info they can find about the houses in this area."

"I'll get the on-call M.E. to come in and help Susie to clear some of the backlog while I'm gone."

Jane smiled, her dark eyes fixed on bright hazel, happy that her friend wanted in on this case as much as she did. "Well, y'know," she drawled, "… since we're talking about an early start and what with your place being the closest…"

"You already said you'd take me home," the blonde replied, narrowing her eyes. "But if that's your roundabout way of asking if you can stay over, you know you're always welcome. I'd be -"

There was a pause where Jane waited to see if Maura was going to say anything else. She seemed to think about it for a second and then changed her mind. "You'd be what?"

Maura looked at her friend for a long moment, deliberating whether or not to just say what was on the tip of her tongue, "I'd be disappointed if you didn't."

"You would?"

The shoulder nearest Jane lifted, belying Maura's insecurities as she admitted shyly, "Mmm-hmm. It feels more cozy with you there."

Jane sighed contentedly, looking out at the white road ahead as it disappeared in to the darkness, "I do love it at your place, your tv is bigger and your couch is sooo comfy."

"Well, like I said, you can come anytime." Maura cringed internally at her slip of the tongue. "Over. Come over… anytime."

Jane put the car in drive and pulled away, chuckling to herself as Maura's cheeks flushed blood red.


	5. Chapter 5

**CHAPTER FIVE**

Maura's holiday wish was granted and the two women spent what was left of their night at her house undisturbed by trick-or-treaters.

Jane suggested to her that it had probably been postponed due to the weather, something to do with safety procedures - a co-operative strategy between law enforcement and parent-teacher associations to ensure all kids were accounted for at the end of the night and all homeowners knew what to expect when they opened their front door - though it didn't make the blonde feel any better to know it would still happen at some point.

She didn't dislike the holiday, or the giddy children it brought with it, quite the opposite, in fact; she was simply exhausted. The last several days, since the snow had hit its peak and she'd seen the biggest death spike of her career, had left her tired and acutely craving some peace and quiet. She just needed some time alone. Maybe not _alone_.

Jane was the exception. She could always let Jane in, no matter how bad her day had been, no matter how badly she longed to go home and rest, grab a glass of wine, or a hot bath. Jane trumped all and Maura had reached a point where she was happy to admit that to herself. It was easier that way, though it hadn't always been the case.

Substituting the hot bath on this occasion for two large bowls of hot water, the doctor sat side-by-side with the detective on her couch, soaking their frozen feet while they watched The Walking Dead. There might come a time, she hoped, where it would be appropriate for her to suggest a shared hot bath with the detective, but until then this would have to do.

They drank beer and chatted as the television played; Maura spoiling all the best special effects with her behind-the-scenes knowledge of how to make convincing entrails and Jane spoiling all the action sequences with reasons why the only character with law enforcement training was doing it all wrong. Of course she would know better, would do things differently in the event of a real-life zombie apocalypse, and every time the doctor teased her with raised, skeptical eyebrows and a sly smirk, the detective would poke and tickle her in return and the two would laugh like schoolgirls.

The two women spent the night on the couch, curled up together under the same blanket, though they slept very little; just an hour here and an hour there, clock-watching until sunrise.

oOo

Rizzoli and Isles were already at the first scene when CSRU and the coroner's van turned up in the morning. Patrol had already taped off the entire house, including the front and back yard, and Jane made sure only the minimum number of people required were allowed on the premises. Too much traffic, too many footprints, would just make things needlessly complicated.

Maura wasted no time in having both skeletons tightly bagged to try and keep them intact; their crude metal joints were weak and poorly fitted and the bones looked like they could easily fall away if they weren't careful. Then a CSRU technician methodically marked and severed the ropes, before bagging them, too.

Jane instructed them to check everywhere for fingerprints; the stair handrail, the exposed electrical wiring, the light fittings, the front door, even the porch floor. If there was additional evidence to be found it would be in this immediate area, she thought. Still convinced no one had been inside the house, their next move was to let patrol break in the door and clear it for them to take a look around.

Removing the pumpkins that sat on the porch, samples of flesh and maggots were placed into clear plastic pots with screw top lids. Maura would undoubtedly have a field day with those given half a chance. The last time she had used maggots in the crime lab Jane had gone right off milkshakes for a month.

The inside of the house was empty when they finally gained entry, a thick layer of dust covering every surface, including the floors, confirming the theory that no one had stepped foot in there since it was boarded up.

When the team stepped back outside, the hastily installed porch lights had been taken down, along with all the tampered wiring. They made sure the house was sealed back up, the utilities made safe, police tape put back in place, and the patrol instructed to remain at the scene until further notice.

oOo

Sergeant Detective Vince Korsak and Detective Barry Frost stepped out of their parked vehicle in front of the second scene just as Jane and Maura pulled up, CSRU and the coroner's van just behind them.

Frost chuckled as his partner got out and stepped up towards him on the sidewalk. "You sure know how to pick 'em, Jane."

She shrugged, holding out her arms in surrender, "I swear this weird shit just finds us, man."

The entire premises were once again taped off, this patrol having also followed the instructions Jane radioed through to dispatch the night before.

Having retrieved her black case from the trunk, Maura approached and quickly ducked under the tape, "Shall we?"

Korsak raise an amused eyebrow as Jane performed a mock bow and held the tape aloft, adding, "We shall." Just as Frost was about to duck she threw her arm out and caught him in the chest, "On second thoughts… you might wanna stay out here, just… trust me." Knowing she had to find the men a purpose lest their trip out there be entirely pointless, she gestured up and down the street, "Normally we'd do door-to-door, see if any neighbors saw anything, but as you can tell there are no neighbors to ask so… you got any suggestions?"

The older man shrugged, "No reports of suspicious activity. No working security system on the house. We could check for CCTV in the area but, given how remote this is, I doubt it."

The brunette looked a little disappointed but Frost cut in with an idea, "You know, sometimes people take a ride around the neighborhood to check out the Halloween displays and everyone's got a social media account these days. It's a long shot but I could do a location check to see if any photos were posted in this area over the last few nights."

"Sweet," Jane praised. "Do you think you could find whoever bought those security lights, too? They looked the same at each site, I'm thinking someone bought a bunch of 'em."

"Sure," Frost nodded. "I'll get the model and serial numbers, track down the supplier."

The two men looked ready to head back to the station to get started but Korsak paused, "You need us at the next scene?"

Considering how the sight of poor, lifeless Fido might affect Detective Dolittle, she hedged, "Er, no. You don't wanna see that either. But could you check with the local taxidermists if they've worked on any small dogs lately?" At Korsak's confused frown, she added with a dismissive wave, "Just… you don't wanna know."

As the two men turned and left, Jane ducked under the tape to join Maura, before the two women walked up to the porch.

The gory mannequins were bagged and cut down in the same way as before. Maura recovered the eyeballs from the black pot as Jane watched, observing the beauty of her friend's profile and marveling at how serenely composed she was even in the face of tattered human organs.

Every bit of evidence, from ropes to electric wires to the little cauldron itself, was preserved and prepared for transport back to the crime lab and Jane was thankful for the efficiency with which everyone worked. The sooner they got out of there and back to the relative warmth of the precinct the happier she'd be.

oOo

With only one actual autopsy to conduct for this latest case, Jane might have expected Maura to show up in the bullpen earlier in the day, but the medical examiner had been holed up downstairs for close to eight hours and the detective wondered if they'd be going home any time soon.

Ambling into the morgue, the brunette found their whole, male victim laid out on a metal examination bed, covered to the shoulders in a white sheet. She peered down at him, observing the white pallor of his skin, the deep purple tinge around his eyes, his unshaven chin. He wasn't the same intimidating figure without the torn, haunting black robes he'd presumably been dressed in after death.

Maura was sat on a tall stool, studiously working on something at another table with her back to the door. Jane couldn't see what the doctor was doing but she was obviously engrossed, and the brunette seized the opportunity to lift the white sheet gingerly with a finger and thumb, intrigued to see more of the dead man's body, to get some clues as to the tale of his untimely demise.

Startled at the blonde's voice suddenly cutting through the quiet room, she dropped the sheet and turned sharply, her back to the table, hands gripping the edge.

"Single stab wound to the thigh… transected the femoral artery. He bled out." The doctor continued to work facing the other way.

"Um," Jane murmured, unsettled by Maura's ability to have eyes in the back of her head. "Any defensive wounds?"

"None. He has numerous wounds, all caused post mortem by the fixtures that were used to keep him standing upright."

Jane turned back to the dead man, recalling the sight of a disrobed Death at the scene, pins puncturing his sallow skin at regular intervals, attaching him to a crude scaffold of pipes and bolts. She swallowed a dry lump at the memory. They had found many victims posed or redressed over the years but this case was something else.

The sound of Maura downing tools drew Jane's attention once again. She turned and started to approach, but her friend swiveled on her stool, turning to the side, revealing her work on the table. The move caused the brunette to screech to a halt, gasping and pointing at the severed head staring back, "What is _**that**_?!"


	6. Chapter 6

**CHAPTER SIX**

_"What is that?!"_

Maura answered proudly with a bright smile, unperturbed by the brunette's shrieked overreaction, "An experiment in forensic anthropology."

Jane's face was screwed up, her nose wrinkled as if she'd happened upon a very bad smell. "Oh. Ugh."

"I reconstructed him." Turning back to the head as Jane moved to her side, the doctor explained, "Three-dimensional facial reconstructions are usually part cranial remains, or a plaster cast of the cranial remains, and modelling clay."

Jane nodded as her friend spoke, understanding the principles and process, as well as the importance of knowing what an unidentified victim would have looked like. Her eyebrows drew together and her head tilted, analysing the facial features as Maura continued.

"The process is reversed somewhat here, but I thought since we had more remains to work with, it was worth exploring as a possible means of identification."

The detective leaned an elbow on the table top and cupped her chin in her palm. What at first had appeared to be a spine-chilling depiction of decapitation was, in fact, a remarkable achievement, a perfectly reformed soul, conceived by the mind of a genius. Maura had managed to restructure the appearance of their elderly male victim using the skull from the skeleton, some pins, a small amount of clay, and the severed face from the vampire. It was missing some of the scalp but the rest was painstakingly reconstructed.

Maura's knowledge of anatomy and her attention to detail was astonishing, and for a second Jane was silent. There were times when Jane would tease, ridiculing her friend's giddy interests or her penchant for the unusual; a reminder of how different they were at their cores. But then there were times like these, where something small would spark a huge, flashing neon sign inside the brunette's mind, stunning her momentarily, stealing her breath. _She's a goddamn genius!_

Swivelling her hips, Jane turned to the side and waved a hand towards the other table, looking from the head to the body and back again, "Do they look a bit similar to you?"

Nodding, Maura confirmed, "DNA results should be back soon, but I wouldn't be surprised if there's a familial connection."

"Father and son?"

"Or uncle and nephew," Maura shrugged as her eyebrows lifted, unwilling to let Jane settle on her first assumption.

Jane sighed. "And what about the teeth?"

"The canines do appear to have been extracted from the skeletons we found." Maura breathed a heavy sigh of her own, sounding as tired as Jane felt. "What about you? Find anything useful?"

Jane turned her back fully to the head on the table, resting her ass against the edge, slinking somewhat closer to the doctor without conscious effort. She folded her arms over her chest and bowed her head, "We tracked down the previous home owners; one deceased, one moved out of state over a decade ago, and one is being cared for at an assisted living facility, so nothing to go on there. Korsak checked all the local taxidermists but didn't find anything. We've got a list of missing persons as long as your arm, but again nothing to go on, and Frost's still working on sourcing the security lights."

Maura stood and placed a comforting hand on Jane's arm, "We'll know more once the test results come back."

Grateful for the reassurance, Jane smiled and covered Maura's hand with her own, "I hope so." Relishing the feel of the blonde's skin, Jane stood unmoving as her warm, brown eyes soaked up the gold highlights of Maura's messy ponytail under the fluorescent lights. "You ready to go home? I can give you a ride."

Feeling her heart speed up, Maura breathed slowly, calming herself. She nodded, removing her hand from Jane's, "Give me ten minutes to clear this away and I'll meet you in the parking garage."

Jane's eyes seemed darker and more intense than usual and something in Maura's belly burned as the brunette whispered, "Okay."

As the doctor watched Jane leave, she couldn't help the feelings of anticipation that tingled up her arms from her fingertips. Despite knowing this was no different to any other occasion when they carpooled or slept over, she couldn't halt the hope that blossomed, the belief that just maybe they were turning a corner, that this time might be different. Last night had been wonderful, no matter how tired she'd felt today, it had been worth it and she saw no harm in wanting that again, in wanting Jane to stay.

oOo

As the car pulled up outside Maura's house, the doctor unbuckled her seatbelt and inhaled deeply. The last five minutes had been spent giving herself a silent pep talk, collating all the logical reasons she could use for why Jane should stay. There were other reasons, too, she just wasn't quite brave enough yet to let them lead.

"It's going to be another long day tomorrow and I still don't have my car. Would you mind sleeping here and giving me a ride in the morning?"

Jane smiled, happy for the request and the chance to parrot Maura's own words back at the blonde, "Is that your roundabout way of asking me to stay over?"

Tilting her head, Maura argued soundly, "I wouldn't call it **_roundabout_**. My question was very direct."

Ducking her head, the detective smiled again. Their relationship had become somewhat of a circus lately; it certainly was entertaining, but Maura had become the ringmaster, skilfully avoiding the huge elephant in the tent every chance she got. Amused and relaxed towards their interaction, Jane had let all the lingering glances, smouldering looks, and loving touches pass between them over the years without comment. Until now.

Unbuckling her own seat belt, Jane leaned over the console towards the doctor. Her heart beat with the force of a dozen galloping horses and she drew a deep breath in through her nose. The feeling was much like preparing to catch a bullet in your teeth.

With their faces much closer together, Jane spoke softly. "You didn't ask me to stay, Maura. You asked me for a ride… and we both know I could do that without sleeping here. So…" The brunette trailed off but her deep brown eyes held the blonde's beautiful hazel gaze. Gambling with what she thought she knew about Maura's private feelings, her eyes flicking down to the blonde's lips and back again, she whispered, "Ask me again."

"Stay." The detective had barely finished speaking before Maura blurted out the word. Drawn in to the body opposite, she leaned in herself and added quietly, "Please? Just – I want…" She couldn't say it. Why couldn't she say it? The moment stretched on and the comfortable atmosphere that had encompassed them in the car seemed to leech out into the cold.

Jane wasn't about to let the development slip away. "You want?" Her eyebrows moved in question, coaxing, encouraging, but things had turned serious and knowing a serious Maura was a cautious and reticent Maura, Jane opted for levity to break the tension. "You want me for my tow rope," she deadpanned. "Is that it? You only want me for my wheels. I shoulda known." She gasped theatrically as Maura broke into a sweet smile, pointing an accusing finger, "You wanna get me drunk and steal my keys!"

Chuckling at the detective's silliness, Maura swatted at her with a hand, "Be serious, Jane."

"I **_am_** serious. Honey, that electric Tonka toy of yours is **_useless_** in winter. I want you to sell it immediately."

Still laughing, the blonde's reticence was gone and her honest words took them both a little by surprise. "I want you…" Maura breathed, letting the words hang in the sparse air between them. "… to stay with me."

Reaching out a hand to cup Maura's cheek, the two instinctively closed the gap and rested their foreheads together. Maura had closed her eyes, as if she couldn't believe what was happening but Jane was still smiling, relishing their progress. "Was that so hard?" she asked, knowing anything other than affirmative confirmation would be a lie on both sides.

With her eyes still closed, Maura nodded.

Swallowing a lump in her throat, suddenly conscious of what they were doing, or about to do, Jane croaked brokenly, "I know."

Hearing the catch in Jane's voice, Maura's eyes sprung open. Mirroring Jane's gesture, the doctor reached and stroked the detective's face, comforting and reinforcing the sentiments they had just shared, albeit without actually saying them in so many words.

Long seconds stretched on in which Maura decided, having breached the line in the sand, she might as well jump right in. Drawing her face back slightly, she took a moment to simply look at the woman who had so enriched her life, with family and love and laughter, since the moment they had met.

She was leaning in, anticipating the touch of soft, warm lips against hers when Jane's cellphone started to ring, filling the silence with an unwelcome, shrill tone that made Maura sigh and almost drop her face in her hands with exasperation.

"Rizzoli," Jane barked into her cellphone, equally disappointed at the interruption. She was hard pressed to concentrate on the voice in her ear as Maura's cellphone also started to ring.

It was Korsak. "_We've got another one_."

"Oh, man," she grumbled under her breath. Korsak sounded as tired as she felt, and though he'd almost certainly had more sleep than she'd had the previous night, she wasn't sorry that she'd spent it curled up with Maura. Still, curiosity tore at her weary muscles as she stifled a yawn.

"_I know you clocked off, Jane, but I think you'll wanna see this_."


	7. Chapter 7

**CHAPTER SEVEN**

Just two streets over from the previous scenes, several patrol cars with their flashing lights lit up the darkness in a blue haze.

It wasn't so late that everyone was already in bed and so the sidewalks were crowded with neighbors eager to watch the spectacle. Uniformed officers kept them at a distance, behind the line of police tape as Detective Rizzoli and the Chief Medical Examiner pushed their way through the frigid night air and onto the plot of land in front of a small terrace.

CSRU were already on scene, setting up equipment that included a stepladder, below a large tree that shaded the front of the buildings where it sat amidst a snow-covered lawn.

Korsak and Frost approached, the older man explaining what they were seeing. "The kids that called it in are over there," he pointed, indicating four people that must have been mid-to-late teens at least.

Jane's eyebrows rose. It didn't serve them well to infantilize younger witnesses, even if they did feel their age sometimes, but she said nothing and let her colleague continue.

"We spoke to them separately but they all said pretty much the same thing; they thought it was a halloween decoration. We've got one guy coming down to the station so you can check him for evidence transfer. Danny Bane, eighteen, on his way to a party with his friends started messing around by the tree, thought it'd be funny to climb up and take a selfie with the ghost. Needless to say he got quite a fright once he was up close and personal. Called nine-one-one shortly after."

"Thank you, Vince," said the doctor.

As Maura headed for the tree where a body hung limply from a low branch, Jane half turned and waved a hand at the men. "I'll go with Maura. Can you talk to some of the neighbors and let me know what you find out?"

"Sure thing, Jane," agreed Frost with a smile before following Korsak back towards the police tape.

It had continued to snow for most of the day before letting up somewhere around late afternoon and so Jane's footsteps were slow and lumbering as she trudged over to the frosted tree where Maura was now perched atop the stepladder beside the vast trunk.

Everywhere she looked was white; the ground, the tree, the CSRU techs in Tyvek suits, even the strung up body. It was clear to anyone with an ounce of imagination that the white sheeting over the victim was a deliberate attempt to make it appear like a floating apparition, a swinging spectre or ghost, and it worked. The hairs on Jane's arms stood on end as she stared at the spooky find.

Several lumps of wet snow hit the detective on the shoulder, dislodged from heavily-laden leaves as the doctor reached to steady herself by holding a tree branch. She swept them off with a brush of her fingers and a disgruntled sigh before calling up to the blonde, "Whadda we got, Maura?"

"Well," she drawled, still inspecting the face of the deceased, her tone heightening Jane's sense of dread. "Cause of death could be strangulation, given the noose and the bruising pattern around the neck. I'd have to examine the hyoid to be sure. If it was strangulation, a usual indication would be petechial haemorrhaging… but since there are no eyeballs it's impossible to say at this point."

Jane's head snapped back and she stared up at the doctor's butt in shock, "What?!"

Sweeping the hood of her coat down off her head, Maura craned to look towards the ground over her shoulder, a wicked gleam in her eyes that betrayed her deliberate revelation and the amusement she felt at Jane's reaction , "His eyeballs have been removed."

"Eyeballs," the brunette muttered, staring unseeing as she recalled the bobbing contents of the cauldron from the night before.

"Yes, eyeballs," Maura confirmed, her voice straining as she made to climb off the ladder and into the tree.

The sudden move startled the detective and she moved to grab the stepladder to steady Maura's footing as the apparatus wobbled and leaned. "What – Maura!"

A gurney and body bag had been placed nearby and two CSRU techs moved to take down the deceased under Maura's direction. Leaning her weight onto a thick limb, she gripped it with one hand while pointing instructions with the other. "Take the branch too. I see marks in the wood here that might be from the body being hoisted up."

They muttered affirmatives and nodded as Jane moved back to give them room to work.

It seemed to take forever as the brunette looked on, but she was still slightly taken aback that her friend had just scampered into a huge tree like a spider monkey without a safety harness.

Having climbed either side of the ladder, the techs seemed to have trouble releasing the rope that held their victim in a strangle hold and the branch bent and bowed under the strain.

Jane shuffled her feet as she watched, reaching out an itchy, restless hand, wanting to help but unable to reach. When the ground seemed to shift underneath her and the tree itself seemed to lurch she froze.

Whereas the sound of snow hitting the already covered earth failed to distract the team working to retrieve their John Doe, the unsettling sound of wood creaking under stress succeeded.

The ground dipped further beneath Jane's boots and for a second she forgot to breathe. With a tremulous exhale, she willed every ounce of authority she could muster and sprang into action. "Maura!" she yelled. "Get down, it's not safe!" Turning to where her colleagues were huddled by the sidewalk she bellowed once more, waving her arms in a wide, sweeping arc, "Frost! Get everybody back right now, this tree's gonna fall!"

The young detective spun around, his eyes finding the frantic figure of his partner in the swirling darkness before barking instructions and pushing a line of onlookers back across the street.

Having just managed to lay the freed body on the gurney, Jane scrambled to hurry the techs away before running back to help the doctor. "Go! Go. Get over there!" she shouted. The ground was still shifting, lumps of dark earth popping up through the snow-covered grass, vast roots exploding with a fierce snap as the centuries old tree escaped its foundation.

"Jane!"

Maura was still clutching her branch when the detective appeared below her. She barely had chance to shout, "Jump!" before the two women were showered in yet more clumps of snow, a huge area of lawn erupting from the ground as the tree pitched with a loud groan.

It seemed to happen in slow motion as the doctor scrambled to lower herself down the trunk, lost her footing and fell into the arms of the waiting detective. The two hit the ground with a thud and the brunette was thankful for the many inches of snow padding her back as her elbows dug in and her head snapped back. Without giving the blonde a second to collect herself, she wrapped her long arms around the doctor's petite body and rolled them as far away from the falling tree as she could.

The sounds of snapping and splintering wood surrounded them as Jane covered Maura's body with her own, shielding her. Some smaller branches reached them as the tree finally crashed to the ground and Jane winced as she felt something scratch the back of her head.

Silence descended upon the pair and the two women breathed heavily, chests heaving against each other, their bodies pressed together soundly.

Despite their chilly enclave, the warmth and protectiveness of Jane's body heated Maura's quickly, bringing her back to their moment in the car and the notion that, had this call not come in, they could possibly have been in this exact position under much more pleasant circumstances.

"Are you okay?" Jane whispered, bringing Maura out of her daydream.

It was no good. Jane's face was right there, her lips… so close… Maura was struggling to think clearly. "Um -"

Watching Maura blink, Jane was suddenly filled with concern, realising her entire weight was still piled on top of the blonde. She leaned up on her forearms, "Did I hurt you?"

"No!" Maura reached up to grab the brunette by the front of her coat. "No," she repeated softly, wishing they didn't have to move even as she felt dampness start to seep through the back of her trousers.

The moment stretched on as distant voices became clearer and they could just make out their colleagues approaching.

"Well," Jane laughed nervously, feeling awkward that they could be caught in quite a compromising position, in the middle of a scene no less. "I've heard of falling for someone or having the earth move but yet again you're an over-achiever, Doctor Isles."

The blonde's smile was a second or two in developing, but with the brunette grinning down at her, once it came it was wide and beautiful.

"Come on." The brunette pushed herself to her feet and then grabbed the doctor by both hands, helping to pull her up.

As they brushed snow and leaves from their bodies, Korsak's voice cut through the night a second before he and Frost appeared at their side. "You girls okay?"

"We're fine," Jane replied, brushing some loose curls out of her face.

"We leave you alone for five minutes and look what happens," Frost teased.

"Hey!" the brunette responded, swinging a lazy punch at his shoulder, making him chuckle.

"I don't believe you can blame us for that. The snow alone could have felled that tree," argued Maura.

Frost looked truly perplexed. "How does snow bring down a tree?"

The doctor shrugged, as if it was all fairly obvious, "It's unseasonably early for this weather. The trees still have their leaves, holding more snow than normal, increasing the overall weight. That, combined with the warm, rainy spell we had last week and resulting soft ground, would leave some trees susceptible to uprooting."

With a flick of his eyebrows, Korsak wrapped up the topic and moved on. "Makes sense. Anyway…" he trailed off, clearing his throat. "Nobody saw the body being hung, though quite a few knew it was there and just thought it was a decoration."

"Could be what the killer was counting on with all of these Halloween scenes," Frost theorized. "Blend right in."

Jane gave a lazy nod, still a bit stunned.

"We'll run all the neighbors' details through the database in the morning."

Having watched the coroner's van pull away, Maura addressed the men before laying a gentle hand on Jane's arm. "Thank you, gentlemen. Could you drive me to the precinct please, Jane? I want to get a head start on this one." Truth be told, the medical examiner just wanted this case solved as soon as possible in order to concentrate on more personal matters.

Given the case developments, the brunette was hard pushed to argue. Everything pointed to this being connected to their other gruesome discoveries. She just needed confirmation from the lab, and if that meant working through the night then so be it. Not to mention they now had a witness who needed to be interviewed, swabbed and fingerprinted.

"We'll get patrol to seal this off before we go," said Korsak, gesturing towards the enormous pile of firewood that used to be their scene. He gave an uncharacteristic wink before adding, "See you in the morning, Jane. Try and get some sleep."

Frost smirked and rubbed a finger under his nose as the brunette ambled away. He'd seen enough to know better and clearly Korsak had, too. Whatever was going on between Rizzoli and Isles, it was about damn time.


	8. Chapter 8

**CHAPTER EIGHT**

Maura awoke with a start, not to mention a crick in her neck, on the small couch in her office. It wasn't the most ideal place to catch up on her sleep but it had served its purpose well enough after she worked late into the night.

Jane had hovered throughout the autopsy, asking questions in her usual fashion, throwing theories around, and pacing the floor with impatience. That was exhausting in itself, but Maura enjoyed her company too much to ask her to leave.

In the end, with the body tucked away in a metal drawer and a completed report on the doctor's computer, they had both collapsed onto the couch in Maura's office. The last thing the blonde remembered was having Jane's head in her lap, soft, dark brown locks passing through her fingers.

Sitting up, she breathed deeply, relishing the memory and the knowledge that it wasn't, as had so often been the case, a dream.

A glance at the coffee table revealed a hand-written note from the detective, who was nowhere to be found.

_We got some info on the security lights. Going to check it out._

_Frost should still be here if you get any case results._

_Text you later._

_Jane x_

The brunette didn't usually send kisses, or hand-written notes for that matter; she always preferred text messages. Maura could only think that hand writing a note in this instance was Jane's way of making sure a cellphone tone didn't disturb her from sleep, either that or it was chosen as a more romantic form of communication. Either way, it sent a warm tingle across the blonde's belly and she rubbed her thumb over the paper where Jane had signed her name.

oOo

Having gone straight to the lab - where an assistant had assured the medical examiner that the results she needed would be available within the next couple of hours - Maura took some time to shower and change her outfit before grabbing breakfast and much-needed coffee in the precinct café.

Once she received notification that the results were in, the blonde spent some time back in the morgue, reading through the information, before heading up to the bullpen.

She found Frost alone at his desk and proceeded to have him cover the whiteboard with details of each of their victims.

"DNA confirmed the skeletons, organs, facial remains and teeth we found belonged to Erika and Albert Bathory, both seventy-five years old. Toxicology results confirmed they died of arsenic poisoning. The organ, teeth and skin removal was conducted post-mortem." Pointing at the board, she met Frost's eyes once more, "The male dressed as Death was their son, Gabriel Bathory, forty-seven. His cause of death was exsanguination due to a stab wound in his upper thigh, but there were traces of arsenic in his system, too."

Frost stroked his chin thoughtfully, "Maybe he wasn't dying fast enough from the arsenic so the killer decided to stab him instead."

Maura tilted her head and murmured noncommittally. She'd considered it, of course she had. Her years of experience working with detectives had inevitably rubbed off a little, even if she was loathe to admit it, so having Frost throw out that theory was no surprise.

When she next spoke, Frost's jaw clenched and Maura felt a twinge of regret that she'd had to relay this grisly information to him alone, without the support of his colleagues. She sighed, "There's a familial DNA match to the body that was found hanging from the tree and to the eyeballs that were recovered. Can you run a search for family members? See if he had any children?"

Frost huffed, this case was horrific by anyone's standards, but he was already moving back behind his desk, "Sure thing, Doctor Isles."

As the sound of keyboard keys clicking filled Maura's ears she moved to sit at Jane's desk opposite Frost. It was a very rare occasion that she was in this room without the brunette detective by her side, and so the chance to test out Jane's chair was too good to pass up.

It felt warm and cozy without actually being either of those things; the feel of Jane seemed woven into the seams, her scent permeated the fabric, the gravelly husk of her laughter echoed in the sound of the wheels as they moved across the floor. Maura soaked it up, running her hands over the chair arms.

Frost leaned his forearm on the desk, peering around the back-to-back monitors to draw the medical examiner's attention. Having found the information they needed, he relayed it efficiently, glancing from the screen to the doctor and back again.

"Gabriel Bathory and his wife…" he tipped his head, correcting himself, "… **_ex_**-wife, Elizabeth Bathory, had two sons, Adam and Oliver."

He swung the monitor around to face Maura and she didn't hesitate to identify their hanging victim. "Oliver. He's the young man we found last night."

"So now we just need to find Adam." Frost shrugged, knowing full well he was jumping ahead, "Assuming he's dead?"

Maura seemed deep in thought for a moment before she sighed with resignation, "You know me, I'd say without a body it's impossible to know whether Adam is dead or alive. Finding his eyes doesn't prove anything."

Frost sensed there was more forthcoming from the blonde. "But…?"

She threw her hands up, as if conceding defeat, "But given the crudeness with which the other bodies were mutilated, I'd say it's unlikely he's still alive. None of this was done by someone with medical training using a scalpel."

Frost scoffed at the understatement, "Yeah, there is that... and the fact that everyone else in his family is dead, too."

"What can you find out about the mother?"

Frost turned the monitor back around and got busy tapping keys again. After less than a minute, still furiously working, he explained, "Elizabeth Bathory was committed to Bridgewater State Hospital ten years ago -"

"Oh." A shiver ran up Maura's spine. Anyone committed to a facility for the criminally insane had very serious mental health issues. She'd met a few people who met the necessary criteria in her years working with BPD, even going so far as trying to interview them during the course of an investigation.

Flicking on Jane's monitor, she logged onto the computer and started running searches of her own while Frost continued on.

"She has several priors for domestic assault and battery. Might be what precipitated the divorce."

"Does it say what she was committed for?"

"I dunno, why?"

"Because if it involves severe delusional disorder I think we might have a lead." Maura spun Jane's monitor to face the detective and he took a few seconds to read what was on the screen.

_Elizabeth Bathory was a Hungarian countess who has the distinction of being widely regarded the most prolific serial killer in human history. The aging countess became obsessed with trying to reclaim her youth, and settled upon bathing in blood…_

"Shit," breathed Frost, not needing to read any further.

The doctor sounded disappointed, almost kicking herself for missing something, "I knew the surname seemed familiar, I just didn't know where I'd heard it before."

Frost had gone back to desperately searching for more information on the computer. "The boys stayed with Gabriel after he and Elizabeth got divorced, but it looks like Oliver tried to track her down after she left the hospital; there's a missing person's report on file from 2007. But it says here she was checked out under a different name. No one followed it up."

"What was the name she used?"

Suddenly, the young man's expression darkened and he breathed in sharply, "Oh god."

That caught Maura's attention and she stared at him as her heart beat raced out of control, "Barry?"

Looking up, he spoke slowly as everything fell terribly into place, "Lizzy Bath."

Maura's eyebrows scrunched together as she held his gaze, silently willing him to elaborate.

"We found several online accounts that recently bought security lights like the ones at the scene. Only one was registered to a local address so Jane and Korsak went to check it out."

He could see his own fear reflected back at him through Maura's glassy eyes and was pretty sure the woman had stopped breathing.

"The account's registered to a Lizzy Bath."


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Happy Halloween, peeps! We should be wrapping this up fairly soon. What's that? You want a bit more drama and suspense before it ends? Well okay then!**

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><p><strong>CHAPTER NINE<strong>

Korsak caught Jane rubbing her eyes for the second time that morning and decided now was a very good time for a friendly chat. They were going forty miles an hour, the roads having been cleared sufficiently by the county's fleet of plows, so she was pretty much a captive audience, and though her unpredictability had caused problems in the past he was fairly certain she wouldn't alight from a moving vehicle just to get away from him.

"Thought I told you to get some sleep?"

She smiled lazily, expecting some kind of comment, just not this soon. "I did," she said simply, unwilling to elaborate on the circumstances. The feel of Maura running fingers through her hair, caressing her lovingly, hypnotizing her as she drifted off to sleep would stay with her for a long time. At the memory of that small act alone she out a very satisfied sigh.

"And yet you're wearing the emergency shirt you keep in your car so I know you didn't go home… or to Maura's."

Jane shrugged, still smiling smugly but unwilling to give in to personal talk so easily, "There's been a lot to do since we stumbled onto this case -"

"It's not just this case though, is it?"

"What?"

"You know exactly what? You still spend more time with her than any other detective in this entire precinct. I get it, you wanna be with her. So you stay overnight when there's nothing you can do but bug the crap out of her -" Jane started to protest but a pointed, wagging finger and a sly, expectant smile from Korsak had her chuckling along with him. "And don't say you don't. I bet you've worn grooves in that morgue floor from pacing all night."

Still smiling and chuckling at how well the man knew her, she held up her hands in surrender, "Okay, okay. You got me. But I **_did_** get some sleep… in Maura's office." She wagged a pointed finger of her own right back at him, "And it's the quality not the quantity that counts." Maura's designer couch was notoriously uncomfortable and yet she had slept like a baby; it was patently nothing to do with the furniture.

More seriously, Korsak stated, "You saved her from being crushed by a tree last night."

A solemn pause proceeded Jane's simple reply. "I did." Two words, but they said so much more. It wasn't the first time one of the women had saved the other, they had made a habit of it, though in the detective's mind Maura had saved Jane far more than the doctor ever really knew.

"I guess this means you finally told her?"

Jane shook her head softly, looking out of the passenger window, "I didn't… not exactly." God forbid that last night's incident hadn't worked out so well. It might have been too late. She rubbed a hand over the back of her head, feeling once again the sting of her scalp where that rogue tree branch had broken the skin. A reminder of how close they came. Too close.

"Why, for Pete's sake? She's already yours, Jane. Surely you can see that?"

She looked down into her lap, fingers fidgeting with nails and non-existent lint on her trousers, "I think I know it… deep down." The warmth and care in Korsak's voice made Jane melt. That this man had no one to call him Father was a travesty.

"You tell her, do you hear me? Life's too short. What did I tell you last time?"

Jane sighed, abashed like a teenager and not a forty-year old adult, "Don't wait for a perfect time that will never come. Just do it."

Korsak grinned, "Atta girl, Rizzoli." Maybe this time would be the charm.

oOo

Korsak drove the Crown Vic down a long, overgrown driveway towards an imposing house that screamed Gothic revival.

Jane ducked down in her seat in order to peer upwards, taking in the full height of the building and running her eyes over as many details as she could manage.

The house was certainly run down, though not totally derelict, with a boarded window on the second floor where the glass was clearly broken, leaving violently pointed shards protruding from the window frame. The paint was peeling and the siding was entirely missing in places.

As the car came to a stop at the end of the driveway and the two detectives exited the car, they couldn't help but look around the overgrown yard and then back to each other. The place was admittedly creepy and what looked like garden ornaments in the shape of tombstones erupting from the snowy garden didn't help their sense of ease.

No answer came at the front door when they knocked but life stirred in the form of dogs barking. Korsak decided to try entering the back yard over a gate at the side of the house just as Jane was peering in through a first floor window, her hands cupped around her eyes on the glass.

She caught sight of his suit jacket billowing in the breeze as he hoisted his weight up onto a trash can and swung a leg over.

Gesturing towards him with her hands, she whined, "What is it with people climbing on things lately?"

"I'm gonna check the back door," he argued reasonably.

"I've got a bad feeling about this, Vince. What if the dogs aren't contained? They sound a bit hostile."

Scoffing, Korsak dug into his trouser pocket where he was still perched precariously astride the gate, and produced a fistful of doggy treats. With a grin, he proudly declared, "I've yet to meet a dog that didn't love me."

Jane chuckled, shaking her head, "Well don't break that record today. I'm not hauling your sorry ass back over this gate if they decide you look like lunch."

Korsak disappeared from sight with the agility of a much younger man and Jane walked back to the front of the house, feeling the onset of adrenaline increasing her heart rate.

Within two minutes the animal sounds had ceased and Jane was morbidly anticipating the huge piece of humble pie she would no doubt have to force down once Korsak reappeared. The smug look on his face would haunt her for the rest of the day.

Jane continued to investigate the front of the house, peering into several more windows, not finding anyone inside. Each room was dark and foreboding, the interiors decorated in an eerily Gothic style that befitted the outer architecture perfectly. The bad feeling that had slithered into her boots and steadily made its way up her legs was only getting worse as the minutes ticked by.

Reaching the corner of the house, the brunette noticed there was a hole in the tattered, wooden fence. As she bent down to look through it, her left hand automatically found her service weapon, providing a source of confidence and comfort in these uncertain surroundings.

A cursory glance revealed a yard strewn with bones, which wasn't that odd in itself considering the household kept dogs, but some weren't the usual beef joint shape she was used to picking up for Jo Friday. Just as she'd resigned herself to following Korsak's lead, a vicious, snarling bark on the other side of the fence made her back snap upright and a half second later she was aiming her gun at something she couldn't see.

"KORSAK!" she screamed, wanting to hear from the man and know he was okay. "Korsak!"

The lanky brunette sprinted back towards the gate, holstering her weapon in preparation for climbing over it just as her ex-partner had done. She cleared it without issue and drew out her weapon again, stalking around the back side of the house with extreme caution.

She froze at the sight of Korsak pinned up against a wall, a large, snarling wolf two feet in front of him. The urge to snicker and tease the man about his useless scooby snacks was smothered by the realization that this was now a genuinely dangerous situation.

"Stay there, Jane," Korsak instructed quietly, waving a hand at his side. He was clearly trying not to startle the beast. "No sudden moves and you'll be fine." Though his voice was subdued and in no way aggressive, it didn't seem to matter to the wolf and it stepped forward, snarling even more ferociously.

Jane, still holding her weapon aloft, flicked off the safety and aimed it at the animal just as another rounded the opposite corner and stalked towards the pair, its steely eyes like laser beams focused on a target. Through a strained exhale, she cursed, "Oh shit."

"Don't!" Korsak pleaded, afraid for the wolf just as he was afraid for himself.

"How else do you suggest we get out of this in one piece?" Jane snapped, grinding the words through clenched teeth. Korsak's adorable animal lover act was fine any other time except for when they were about to get mauled. "I'm sorry but it's us or the wolves."

With his hands held in surrender, the man urged through the side of his mouth, "Try the door."

Jane's eyebrows rocketed, "You skipped checking the door in favor of playing with the puppies!"

He was starting to panic and sweat beads formed on his brow. "Just try the damn door!" he grumbled with more urgency.

Side-stepping as carefully as she could, the woman kept her back to the door and her eyes on the wolves. Her free hand scrambled to find the door handle behind her back and, as it gave way, providing them an escape route, she paused in order to suck in much-needed air.

In the split seconds that followed, Jane managed to take a half-step inside, reach towards Korsak to take a firm grip of his jacket, and yank him inside. The slam of the door as she closed it behind them was sheer relief.

The older man was bent double, his hands on his knees while he caught his breath. He ran the back of his hand over his forehead, wiping off the accumulated sweat, despite the chill in the air.

Jane's back was to him as she faced the interior of the room. She spoke quietly, carefully, "Korsak -"

He would apologize for underestimating the risk involved but he wasn't about to listen to a lecture. "Look, Jane -" He didn't straighten up right away but he raised his eyes high enough to catch Jane's free hand, fingers splayed in mid-air several inches in front of his face.

"Save it," she whispered. "Just… Don't. Move."

With his feet in place, the detective stood up. His eyes blew wide as he took in the grisly scene. "What the…?"

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><p><strong>AN: For the benefit of anyone concerned about the implications of Jane & Korsak letting themselves inside someone's property without a warrant (really?), this instance would be covered by 'exigent circumstances'. You can Google it. I had to.**

**Oh and, wolves really ****_can_**** bark!**


	10. Author's Note

The plan was to keep updating this story at a daily (ish) rate, however, the drunk driver that hit my sister head-on had other ideas, so you'll have to forgive my absence for a while as I spend time focusing on my family.

Nicola


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